Biography & True Story Books:

Tea, War and Crocodiles

tales from an extraordinary life
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Paperback / softback
$65.99
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Description

Ferdinand J Brockhall, later known as Terry, was born in the late 1920s into the unequivocally privileged arms of colonial tea planters in Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies. A boyhood visit to Australia with his family was a portent of things to come, opening Terry's heart and mind to the possibility of other peoples, other lives. Then came the Second World War. Torn from his family at age thirteen and interred at brutal Japanese concentration camps across Java, Terry found solace in the words of Rudyard Kipling - explained to him by a caring camp friend. After the war came more unexpected challenges: repatriation to a 'motherland' he had never seen; immigration to Australia; learning to live with racism and poverty. But through it all shone moments of friendship, laughter, and the abiding love of Willy - his dear wife. Together the young couple set out on many adventures, perhaps the greatest of which was relocation to the Australian Territory of Papua and New Guinea - where they lived, worked and raised two children until the country's independence in the mid-1970s. A few calm years came to a close when Terry and Willy decided to embark on one more adventure - cattle farming. Nestled in the hills of east Gippsland, reminiscent of Terry's idyllic Java plantation childhood, Mirrabooka became their hearts' home. Walk with Terry through the years of dramatic personal and historical change that he shares on these pages. His remarkable life story of migration is complemented by his erudite political reflections and quotes and passages from poets, novelists and great thinkers. You will learn first-hand what the end of an empire feels like, and you will fall in love with countries, cultures, and people. But most of all, you will get to know Terry: an indefatigable gentleman.

Author Biography:

Ferdinand Brockhall is a survivor. In the space of just one lifetime he has lived through the fall of the Dutch Empire, the Second World War and the emerging independence of two nations - Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. He has moved halfway across the world with barely more than he could carry - twice. In this compelling autobiography, he provides moving insights into what it means to be human amidst the brutality of concentration camp life, and also explores the deeply challenging personal experiences of being a migrant in search of a place to call home. Join Ferdinand as he takes you on a journey from the idyllic tea plantations of Java, to the horrors of wartime occupation, to crocodile hunting in Papua New Guinea, before finally finding his heart's home on an Australian cattle farm.
Release date Australia
March 1st, 2022
Pages
552
Audience
  • General (US: Trade)
Dimensions
152x229x28
ISBN-13
9780645381221
Product ID
35679571

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